Workshop - 11th April 2025 - Paris

Data Points

Cardano should aim to be the financial operating system of the world:
- Foundation layer (L1) as a predictable, secure, immutable settlement layer.
- Execution and scaling driven by L2s — tailored per use case.
- Cardano’s brand should reflect trust, reliability, resilience, not just decentralization.
Decentralization is a means to an end → the value to users is security and resilience, not decentralization per se.
Cardano is well positioned for institutional and government adoption:
- Predictable governance, stability, clear roadmap, no major forks → highly valued by institutional clients.
- Opportunity for “governance as a service” — enabling governments and enterprises to run governance on Cardano.
Time horizons matter:
- Next 2 years → ensure scaling and throughput to remain competitive.
- Next 5–10 years → positioning for long-term adoption across enterprises and governments.

Need for a clear, expert-driven, and transparent process to define and evolve the Cardano Vision & Roadmap.
- Vision must be maintained as a living document, with ongoing iteration and community participation.
- Balance between granular governance and trusted expert groups guiding technical decisions.
A key selling point of Cardano is participatory governance — customers can help shape the platform to fit their needs.
- Important to maintain governance credibility and transparency to reinforce this value.
Risks:
- DRep centralization → risk of a small number of representatives dominating governance.
- Voter apathy → most ADA holders may delegate passively, weakening governance engagement.

Identity and reputation solutions are underused — opportunity to better leverage existing DID infrastructure.
Use cases with clear traction and opportunity:
- Governance tooling and participation (Burger Mania DAO example → fun entry point for new users).
- Lead generation & contribution tracking (Andamio example → practical business applications of blockchain).
- Security & malicious transaction prevention (Checkpoint example → valuable public good for the chain).
- Supply chain traceability → clear real-world demand.
- Government infrastructure → governments and their enabling partners are a key target market.
- Enterprise trust needs → Cardano is perceived as a strong option due to stability and scientific rigor.
Cardano should aim to become an ecosystem of L2s optimized for different use cases, rather than pushing L1 to do everything:
- Avoid making L1 too fast or too broad — focus on immutability, security, and scalability for L2 anchoring.
- L2s can bring UX improvements and scale for retail use cases.
Interoperability will be critical long-term but often a secondary priority for initial MVPs.

Cost of transactions remains a barrier to some use cases (Andamio, Burger Mania).
Scaling — urgent need for L2 solutions to handle future demand.
Developer UX and tooling gaps — still friction points for new builders.
Complexity of UTXO model vs account-based systems — needs better abstractions for easier adoption.
Market positioning:
- Cardano is perceived as secure and robust, but also slow.
- Marketing should focus on security, predictability, reliability, and governance—not TPS or hype.

New technical ideas explored:
- Nested transactions (intent-based flows) could greatly enhance UX and security models (Checkpoint use case).
- Protocol-level support for SPOs to gain revenue from L2s or contribute back to L1.
- Layered branding strategy: Cardano L1 as “trusted base layer”, with visible apps/L2s delivering user experience.
Strong call for better reference implementations and GTMs (go-to-market playbooks) to help builders leverage Cardano capabilities effectively.
Discussion about L2-L1 economics:
- How should L2s compensate L1 for usage?
- How to ensure L1 remains sustainable as more activity shifts to L2s.

Cardano ecosystem is seen as a scientific, trustworthy, community-driven platform → this is a unique differentiator.
Participants value the open, participatory discussions — want more such collaborative spaces to co-create the Vision.
Clear desire to share outcomes of Vision workshops publicly to build broader community understanding and trust.

Cardano is uniquely positioned to be the secure, predictable backbone of the blockchain world — the “operating system” under enterprise and government systems.
The ecosystem must embrace L2s to handle scaling and UX demands while keeping L1 focused and resilient.
Governance, security, and clear, trusted vision leadership are key differentiators.
Near-term focus → scaling, reference implementations, market-facing success stories.
Long-term focus → becoming the trusted base layer for enterprise, government, and meaningful public use cases.

Last updated 4 months ago